Is AI good or bad for humanity? “AI, like many technologies, is neutral in itself. Whether it’s “good” or “bad” for humanity depends on how it’s used, developed, and managed. There are both positive and negative aspects to consider…”, a response written by ChatGBT. Although it is unlikely AI would ever admit that it would have a negative overall impact on society, it is correct when stating that you cannot generalize so easily. When focused on the scientific aspect, artificial intelligence has been able to supplement life in so many ways, including increased accessibility and diversity in technological and medical fields, most of which are continuing to evolve to help more of society, however this does not speak to its entire presence.
AI has been rapidly implemented throughout our lives, in ways that are both unexpected, and scary. Luckily, with technological advances comes better accessibility for those who need it. The widespread access to ChatGBT and many similar AI products, has allowed for adaption to aid people with neurodevelopmental disorders. Specifically, the ability to understand and label tone in writing, identify any missed grammar errors, deciphering shorthand, or even tracking social media trends. An article in the Washington Post discusses how many people are utilizing AI to overcome struggles, “Ross, who has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and uses they/them pronouns, says they’ve more than doubled their productivity by using AI for almost everything: to create content using specific frameworks, to prepare for tough conversations, to help with project and strategic planning, and to determine impact”, AI has obviously helped them to supplement their skills, and to make their working environment more accessible. ““I’ve figured out a way to mask my neurodivergence,” said Chambers, 40, who has ADHD. “It’s like having an accommodation that’s inexpensive and easy to use””. This expansion of accessibility into areas usually unconsidered by companies helps in the growth and comfortability of everyone. This is a great way to utilize AI in a small, productive manner that does not depend on the accuracy of AI’s current state but instead expands on its machine learning and diagnostic abilities.
Another example of putting emphasis on AI’s powerful machine learning capabilities is utilizing it in the medical field to identify and suggest diagnoses based off of images. This allows for people without access to in-person appointments to get treatment or even expand the database of inflictions to those underrepresented in medical textbooks, such as people of color. There is an active deficit in examples of many dermatology issues on more pigmented skin, which leads to misdiagnosis and underdiagnosis of illness and in infections for people of color. Luckily, there has been work towards AI utilizing not only textbook representation of these inflictions but also pulling images from online resources that individuals have shared to increase knowledge about how different issues are seen on darker colored skin. The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology reported the statistics in finding accurate disease representation in ‘dark skin images’, or DMIs, throughout various resources. “Of the 15,445 images across all resources, 19.5% were DSIs. Online resources had a greater representation of DSIs (22.1%) compared to printed texts (10.3%). For online resources, VisualDx had a greater representation of DSIs (28.5%) compared to DermNet NZ (2.8%)” AI’s ability to utilize online documents has expanded its pattern recognizing capabilities to more than usually accessed by doctors. This could allow for better diagnoses to be made and for immediate, online, dermatological assistance. “Although the incidence of most skin cancers is lower in individuals with dark skin, these patients often have worse clinical outcomes, including disproportionately higher morbidity and mortality. Consequently, rather than reflecting the incidence of disease in the patient population, educational materials must comprehensively illustrate all pathology in patients of a spectrum of skin tones”, the JAAD reports. Hopefully, by utilizing the opportunity of quick, at-home, and educated help, AI can save lives.
When debating the merits of artificial intelligence, the natural reaction is not to analyze its impact on technological or educational advancements, in my experience it is to resort to fear, implemented by years of science fiction movies regarding technology taking over humanity, think Terminator. Assessing the moral implications of having unlimited, but not verifiably accurate information is time-consuming and inconclusive. Not knowing how AI can be utilized in the wrong hands, whether that be by deep fakes, or its impact on younger generations lives. AI is scary and the way that it has been so quickly discovered and is still rapidly changing, no one can really predict where it will end up or the capabilities it will have. However, commenting on the total social impact cannot be done in a manner right now that is anything other than an opinion. Sure, many of those opinions may lean in an unappealing light, however, the true impact AI has had on every generation has yet to completely unfold. Thus, when analyzing our current situation, the statements that can be made are the ones supported by facts such as the data taken with the increased amount of more accurate diagnostic representation in dermatology with people with more pigmented skin. It is also so obviously beneficial to those who struggle with certain disabilities that AI has proven to be helpful with, such as analyzing tone in text. And even though these cannot be truly weighed against the moral or social impact AI has had and continues to have, because both sides are not completely known, it obviously has positive impacts in some areas, especially those in the technological and medical fields utilizing machine learning. Its ability to expand in this direction, while being monitored and reported on in others, gives me hope that artificial intelligence will have a net positive impact on society.